St Columba’s, Cupar 50th Anniversary

Congratulations on the 50th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the present church at St Columba’s, Cupar, in 1964-5 and also celebrate the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the parish in 1864-5.

While the parish was founded in 1864, the directory shows a strange anomaly.

From 1879-1885, after the restoration of the hierarchy in which the three districts of Scotland as a mission territory were set up and restored as six dioceses, the parish of Cupar was served first by Father Bruce Geddes of Edinburgh diocese. From 1885-1948 Cupar was served from various missions stations.

On Sunday 19th July, 2015, Bishop Stephen led Masses in Cupar and nearby Newport to celebrate the anniversaries. Bishop Stephen said, “From 1948-1960 the parish was served by the Augustinians. And it was only in 1960 that Cupar had its first regular resident parish priest from the diocese, Father, later Canon, James Malaney. And then finally your present Parish Priest, Canon Pat”.

“In other words during all this time the parish has had effectively only two regular parish priests who have been your pastor for the past 55 years. So today’s anniversary of the 50th anniversary of the parish has only seen two parish pastors. And what towering pastors they have been. Even I remembered Canon James Malaney when I used to give talks here while I was a curate in Kirkcaldy in the late 1970s. And Canon Pat has now and is still continuing to build this healthy and thriving community of St Columba’s Cupar. The result of all this is that there has been a great continuity, which explains why Cupar is the stable and thriving parish, it is today. Continuity in a community is a wonderful binding factor in a parish”.